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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinance February 12 2008WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL Finance and Administrative Services Committee February 12, 2008 Committee Chair L. Ward Nelson called the meeting to order at 11:30 a.m. in the Council Chambers, 311 Grand Avenue, Bellingham, Washington. Present: Absent: Sam Crawford None Bob Kelly Also Present: Carl Weimer COUNCIL "CONSENT AGENDA" ITEM 1. APPROVAL FOR THE EXECUTIVE TO AWARD BID #08 -07 UPON REVIEW OF ALL BIDS AND THE SELECTION OF THE MOST APPROPRIATE VENDOR AS DICTATED BY SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE PARTICULAR JOB FOR THE PURCHASE OF ROCK GRAVEL AND SOIL FOR COUNTY ROAD MAINTENANCE PR03ECTS (AB2008 -084) Crawford moved to recommend approval to the full Council. Nelson asked about wording in a letter from the Public Works Department dated February 1, 2008, on Council packet page 26, regarding special circumstances. Councilmember Brenner was concerned about the appearance of cronyism. Eric Schlehuber, Public Works Department, stated there are special circumstances when the County doesn't go to the quarry with the lowest price. It is based on project site and whether the vendor has the rock or gravel. Those circumstances are documented on the requisition and purchase order when the purchase goes through. The individual who procures the product or the approving manager has that information. It's a three -step process to eliminate that concern. Nelson suggested the language include the criteria that aren't met, so they don't imply special favors. People are under the impression that the lowest bid is always the one chosen. Other considerations come into play. Schlehuber stated that's correct, especially with this type of material. Motion carried unanimously. Addenda: 2. REQUEST AUTHORIZATION TO ENTER INTO AN INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN WHATCOM COUNTY AND THE CITY OF BELLINGHAM FOR PAYMENT OF ATTORNEY FEES AND EXPERT WITNESS COSTS IN SKAGIT COUNTY, ET AL. V. THE STATE OF WASHINGTON, ET AL. (AB2008 -092) Karen Frakes, Prosecuting Attorney, stated this item reflects Council direction to continue with outside counsel in the case involving the Lake Whatcom Landscape Plan. At Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 2/12/2008, Page 1 1 this point, it's uncertain how much those expenses will be. A trial date is set for June. They 2 need this agreement so attorneys will be ready for a June trial. 3 4 There was concern that David Mann also be an attorney in this case. The City 5 already talked about getting Mr. Mann on board. This is for two attorneys. 6 7 Nelson stated he is not in favor of this litigation, but the full Council approved this 8 item. He moved to recommend approval to the full Council. 9 10 Motion carried 2 -1 with Crawford opposed. 11 12 3. RESOLUTION ACCEPTING THE TREASURER'S LIST OF PETITIONS FOR 13 PROPERTY TAX REFUNDS (AB2008 -093) 14 15 Nelson moved to recommend approval to the full Council. 16 17 Motion carried unanimously. 18 19 20 OTHER BUSINESS 21 22 Dewey Desler, Deputy Administrator, stated the administration will bring forward in 23 two weeks a list of projects related to federal funding for projects in 2009. He read the list 24 of projects. 25 26 Nelson stated the letter the County received from the Environmental Protection 27 Agency (EPA) regarding Swift Creek indicated that they are going to back away from the 28 issue and make it a State and local issue. Desler stated that depends on who they talk to at 29 the EPA. The administration is going to talk to Congress about policy and funding 30 responsibility regarding issues like Swift Creek. Many federal agencies need an indication of 31 support from Congressional members before they feel confident about moving forward on 32 their own. 33 34 Desler continued to read the list of items. 35 36 Kelly asked if these are federal appropriations requests. Desler stated they are. 37 There are six different applications -that go to all Congressional members who serve this 38 area. Two of them have received support in the past. They are in the current 2008 budget. 39 The administration is asking for an extension. 40 41 Nelson stated the Council Planning Committee sent a memo to the administration 42 regarding the Planning Division's work plan and staff. There are ongoing labor negotiations. 43 He asked if the administration will provide an update to the Council about the memo. 44 Desler stated the administration is sending a response to the Planning Committee about its 45 memo. 46 47 Nelson stated bring this to the Finance Committee if there are budget concerns, 48 before the budget process begins. Desler stated they need to clarify expectations about 49 when and how much resources will be devoted to certain issues. They are making modest 50 adjustments to the 2008 budget. The administration doesn't propose to spend more money 51 because of revenue difficulties. Permit revenue and timber revenue are very low. Sales tax 52 revenue is flat. Some revenue sources are up a bit, but there is a dramatic drop in federal 53 fund rates. The administration has concerns about meeting its obligations. Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 2/12/2008, Page 2 The administration will have conversations with all department heads and councilmembers this Spring to build a budget this summer, for Council consideration this fall. Crawford stated he has a different opinion from the Planning Committee about how to interact with the administration and work on planning issues. He has no problem prioritizing. He doesn't know why other councilmembers are having a struggle with prioritizing. The tone of the letter was almost threatening. That's unproductive and divisive. This Council complained for a long time about what was happening in the Planning Department. This administration took steps. The former Planning Director resigned. The new Planning Director put forward an option to reorganize the department. The proposal looked productive. He disagrees with the Committee's position in its letter to the administration. Nelson stated he has concerns about a letter being sent from a Council committee. There is frustration with problems in the Planning Department. His concern is also with the divisive approach. Find ways to accommodate the Committee's concerns and understand the administration's issues. Desler stated there was no discussion about this letter during Planning Committee meetings. He doesn't know how the construction of this letter took place. It wasn't within the context of a committee. Issues can be resolved more effectively during committee discussion rather than through a formal letter. Start talking about the issues rather than using very formal language in letters that go back and forth. That does not reflect the intent that the people had when they passed the Charter. Nelson read item C in the letter. Many of the things the Planning Department are supposed to do are put there by the Council. However, there are no associated timeframes. Define what the Council wants done in a certain timeframe. He read item D in the letter. He doesn't know what that means. This letter didn't come from the full Council. It is from a Council committee. He is concerned about the budgetary impact of this letter. An appropriate response from the administration would be to question whether that is the direction the full Council wants to go on issues that have budgetary impact. The administration needs a commitment from the full Council to support anything with a budgetary impact. Crawford stated the Charter is clear that Council actions are done by ordinance, not by letters. All the Council can do is create a law to implement the 90 items it wants done. Kelly stated it appears past councils have docketed a number of items, and failed to budget for those items. Whether or not the process allows the Council to make cost projections about costs associated with the docketed items, they will have these problems. There is insufficient funding for the items already docketed, which means there isn't sufficient funding to docket any further items in good faith. He asked if the Council is bound to wait until the Fall before it gets a chance to sort out the docketed items. Desler stated the administration will never have enough money to do all the things everyone wants to do in all segments of operations. They pay managers and department heads to set priorities, with the Council's help. They are prepared to continue to work with the Council on its highest - priority issues. Even if more resources are allocated, it takes a lot of time to bring on new staff. The County isn't in a position to just add more staff. The County spends more money than it takes in. If they want to do more, they will have to do something less somewhere else. Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 2/12/2008, Page 3 Kelly stated that's the discussion he attempted to describe. He agrees with Mr. Desler. Crawford stated the administration called a meeting last summer to talk with the Council about working on projects. He spent hours working on prioritizing the projects, but no other councilmember did. Nelson stated the process is difficult. It's hard for the Council to prioritize without a process. Without a process for prioritization, it becomes a wish list. Crawford stated the administration gave the Council a process. He followed it. If the Council told the administration they can't follow the process, the administration should develop a process that the Council can use. The letter from the Planning Committee says they aren't even going to try to prioritize. Nelson asked if the Finance Committee is prepared to look at this issue, put forward an opinion based on the financial situation, and put forward a prioritization based on their financial analysis. Crawford stated he is ready to do that. Kelly stated the issue is best addressed if kept as a financial discussion. The letter may be a different issue. There is a price tag associated with the items the Council puts before the administration. He has concerns that he has been elected to a Council that will be limited in making policy decisions because of budget restraints. Otherwise, they are making policy decisions for no reason. The councilmembers were elected based on the promise that they were going to address issues. To avoid laying blame, create a situation where they can make policy decisions. There is a lot of opportunity to make policy decisions, but no opportunity to implement them. They need to address. the costs of docketed items. Then they'll have an idea about how much money the Council needs to allocate to the administration for those items. That doesn't even get to the amount of ideas or policy decisions they will want to make in the future. The Council is limited in that regard. Give this committee a price tag to implement those docketed items. Nelson stated committee consensus seems to be to take up the Planning Committee's concerns and administration's concerns. Look at criteria to measure. He will recommend to the full Council that the Finance Committee start looking at these issues, to get answers. He recommends keeping this focused on finance and personnel. The Finance Committee will make a recommendation to the Planning Committee, which can send the administration a prioritized list. Desler stated the administration doesn't have any difficulty setting priorities. They do that every day. They do that now. The administration asks the councilmembers to design a process. The administration assigned staff to work on the material, data, and information. The administration brought that information forward. The response didn't give the administration any clear direction. The Council should' be very clear in its direction. Any decisions need to have a resource identified with it. They budgeted about $6 million more in actual. expenditures than they had in revenue in 2007. The County Council added $1.2 million in additional expenditures. The administration ended 2007 with another $1.2 million in losses because they didn't receive the revenues for which it budgeted. They are projecting another loss for 2008. They must figure out how to balance expenditures and revenues. They have taken on more staff, including a 50 percent increase in the Planning and Development Services Department. They've been taking Planning Department Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 2/12/2008, Page 4 1 staff from other divisions and putting them into the long -term Planning Division to address 2 Council concerns. The administration wants an affirmation of what they're working on now 3 as well as the projects it wants in the coming months. 4 5 Nelson asked how the Council can help the Planning Department. 6 7 David Stalheim, Planning and Development Services Director, stated the department 8 needs to get information to the administration and Council. They're trying to develop a 9 comprehensive list of work items, including docketed items. In the past, each item 10 identified the amount of staff time required, but the resources required weren't quantified. 11 He's asked staff to assess how much time it takes to get projects done. He will be able to 12 identify the resources they have and the resources they need. 13 14 Nelson asked what processes are required. Stalheim stated they are assigning hours 15 to each item. At the end of this process, the Council will have a detailed list of estimated 16 staff hours. 17 18 Nelson asked if this Committee can have that report when ready. Stalheim stated 19 it's up to the Council how it wants the information. 20 21 Kelly stated he proposes that the they focus on presenting the costs of the policy 22 decisions. This committee and Council would figure out how to pay for the items on the list. 23 Stalheim stated that's the idea of prioritizing. 24 25 Nelson stated they need criteria that make objective sense, such as costs, 26 timeframes, and legal obligations. 27 28 Crawford stated all the councilmembers should discuss it at the evening meeting. 29 30 Nelson stated the Finance Committee is here to help. Stalheim stated the staff will 31 bring this discussion forward soon. 32 33 (Clerk's Note: End of tape one, side A.) 34 35 Kelly stated the Lake Whatcom work plan includes useful information. For this 36 discussion, try to estimate their capacity. Estimate how much work they can possibly do. 37 He asked if there is a way to measure when they've passed that point so they have an idea 38 of that point, without trying to micromanage things. When managing budgets and staff, 39 there is sometimes a need to shift priorities. He would ideally ask people if they have time 40 to take on new priorities. Stalheim stated he's assigning staff members in the database. 41 He will identify the amount of time each staff person is assigned to each task. 42 43 Also, this is a four -year plan. He's trying to look forward. One item could be a 44 docketed item to not allow any more docketed items. They are getting private proposals for 45 docket items. 46 47 Crawford stated a former Planning Division Manager used to give the Council 48 information about the amount of staff time spent on certain projects. 49 50 Nelson stated the trouble with assigning tasks to people is the way those people 51 allocate their time to do the tasks. Tasks could be put off and delayed. One issue is how 52 those assignments are addressed. Things are getting done. However, they must try to 53 resolve frustrations. Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 2/12/2008, Page 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 ADJOURN The meeting adjourned at 12:23 p.m. Jill Nixon, Minutes Transcrip ion ATTES; ittttitilIIIIlots,��� Jy ?•��IiA CO, 1, �..r�e- .� J?anzs Brown- avls, Ccjunci #Clerk '•STATE OF • s9 O,� •.Sh1NNG'\ NN WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON /U; L. Ward Ni—elson,(fomnVtee Chair Finance and Administrative Services Committee, 2/12/2008, Page 6